Utility bills hit universities hard

Energy costs are expected to rise more than 34% between the 2004-05 fiscal year and the 2006-07 year.

January 20, 2006|By Tania Deluzuriaga, Sentinel Staff Writer

They've installed sensors that help regulate air conditioning and energy-efficient light bulbs and even painted rooftops white to keep them from absorbing heat.

But despite trying to reduce the amount of power needed to keep their campuses running, utility costs are higher than ever at Florida's 11 public universities.

Universities have started scavenging for money from other programs to pay their light bills, because the state allocates the same amount of money for energy costs throughout the life of a building.

"When energy costs go up, we still get the same rate," said Bill Merck, vice president for financial affairs at the University of Central Florida.

Energy costs throughout the university system are expected to rise more than 34 percent between the 2004-05 fiscal year and the 2006-07 year, according to preliminary data collected by Ken Jessell, vice president for financial affairs at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

This year alone, utility bills are expected to total $104 million, a 14 percent increase from last year.

At UCF, officials estimate that Progress Energy rate increases combined with the school's growth will increase utility costs 21 percent this year. In October, monthly power costs at the school topped the million-dollar mark for the first time.

"That's one of those events related to growth that there was no party over," Merck said.

UCF isn't the only campus where power bills are eating up a large portion of the budget. The University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University expect to see a rise of almost 50 percent between 2004 and 2007, and the University of Florida expects to see a 37 percent increase.

To pay the power bill, other projects fall to the wayside.

"Money that would have been available for maintenance gets pulled away," Merck said. "Deferred maintenance is really the result. That's not healthy in the long run."

At some schools, money intended for academics is paying for power, according to a document FAU's Jessell will present to the State University Presidents' Association next week.

"In order to pay utility-costs increases, universities have had to utilize educational and general funds, limiting the universities' ability to meet course demand and increase degree production in critical-needs areas," it says.

The hope is to convince the Board of Governors, which oversees the universities, and the state Legislature that more money is needed to address the issue.

"We'd like to have an increase in funds to cover these increases that are beyond our control," Jessell said.

Schools aren't just sitting back and watching the meters tick.

"The universities over the past several years have been undertaking significant energy cost-saving measures," Jessell said. "We are designing new buildings with an eye toward conservation."

At UCF, for example, energy-conservation techniques range from the mundane to the radical.

"While we want to educate people to turn off the lights, we can't rely on that," said David Norvell, UCF's energy manager.

The student union is topped with soil and plants that act as a super insulator, absorbing the sun's heat. Newer buildings feature auditoriums with sensors that calculate the number of people in the room by measuring the carbon dioxide in the air. The system then adjusts the amount of dehumidified air let into the room, reducing the amount of energy used to cool the room.

The school has also set up an Internet site that monitors energy usage across the campus.

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it," Norvell said.

Still, with air conditioning, computers, high-tech labs and growth, Florida's universities require a lot of power.

"We don't want to harm the key academic components of the university," Jessell said. "We have lab experiments that require large amounts of energy and library collections where mold issues prevent you from raising the temperature."